Encourage Creativity and Innovation

“No man can stand alone,” goes a popular adage. You cannot run your organization without your team – it’s the reason you created the team to begin with; because you needed new thoughts and ideas.

For this reason, you will only be shooting yourself in the foot if you stifle creativity and innovation within the team.

The more people you have contributing to discussions on how to grow the business, the better. A new idea from a team member could be the saving grace your company needs to survive an impending storm.

As such, don’t chastise any member of your team for expressing an opinion, so long as they do it respectfully.

If you cut someone down for expressing an opinion or idea, it will build resentment and discourage people from sharing new thoughts.

“Managing a team can be hard and the more people that you are in charge of, the more difficult it can be. Staying in control of a large number of people and making sure that they are getting all of their work done on time is something which you get better at over time. You should, however, always make sure that your team respects you and that they know that you are there to lead rather than just be their friend. ” – How to Manage A Great Team

Set Team Goals

The dream of every human resource manager or entrepreneur is to get their team to work together. But how do you get your team to work together?

It’s actually pretty simple. Just set team goals that each give team players a unified purpose. A common goal will inspire the whole team, unlike a per-person goal that isolates team members and breed a limited mentality.

You can use tools such as Trello, Asana or Goalscape to set goals and collaborate with your team on the go.

Embrace Effective Communication

Every successful leader knows the value of possessing great communication skills. Without effective communication, you will have a difficult time leading your team to success.

Facilitating good communication within your team (and even across the organization) helps you to detect problems early, build trust and avoid costly misunderstandings.

As an effective leader, you should be ready to brainstorm, actively listen to each member of your team and clearly express your ideas. On top of that, learn skills such as win-win negotiation and assertiveness.

Additionally, invest in modern communication solutions, such as Zipline, that streamline communications and task management within your team so you can focus on growing business.

Build Interpersonal Relationships

You don’t work with a team, you work with individuals within the team. Every member of your team has unique interests, ideas, strengths and weaknesses, which means you can’t adopt a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.

I mean, you cannot use the exact same approach when dealing with each member of your team. Instead, invest time in knowing each team member on a personal level. In other words, focus on the individual and mold your approach to fit each one.

Focusing on each member of your team builds friendships and better rapport between you and your team members.

Publicly Reward Hard Work

Rewarding your team members goes beyond offering them a salary. While a bonus check is great, strive to publicly reward any member of your team who does something exceptional.

Now, rewarding a team member needn’t be challenging. You can vocally recognize their efforts or offer a small trophy – just make sure you do it in front of the group.

Why is rewarding hard work in public effective? Well, it makes the intended recipient feel great and show the rest of the team that you reward hard work. Think of it as killing two birds with the same stone.

Remember to remain consistent in your rewarding scheme to achieve the best results.

Take Employee Compensation Seriously

Nothing is as demoralizing as poor compensation. If compensation is inadequate or late, you cannot expect your employees to perform effectively.

The greatest sign of respect towards your employees is paying them fairly and on time. Otherwise, you cannot expect great performance.

This is why it is important for every manager to understand the intricacies of payroll process. On top of that, consider doing annual salary reviews to ensure your employees are well taken care of year in year out.

The livelihood of your employees depends on their pay, so ensure you pay them fairly and on time, or the job means nothing.

Make Work Fun

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. A great manager understands the value of keeping staffers happy at all times. They understand all work and no play results in decreased productivity, which is bad for business.

You don’t need to buy expensive pinball machines or pool tables to make work fun, although a pool table is a pretty swell idea any day. If you don’t have the budget, however, you can go for cheaper ideas to make the workplace fun.

For instance, you can arrange surprise day and night outings or celebrate small wins in your own unique ways. Socializing with your workers is also a great and inexpensive way of making the workplace fun.

Conclusion

Managing a team effectively is no easy task, but with the right mindset and motivation, you can do it like many other team leaders out there.

Our post outlines a couple of ways you can get your team to achieve the extraordinary without breaking a sweat or the bank. Take these tips, and infuse them into your leadership style, and soar high like the eagle you are.

Have questions or suggestions regarding this post? Please share your thoughts and tips in the comments.